Sidereal zodiac

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In astrology, two different zodiac systems located on the ecliptic are used globally , the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac , both with a measuring circle of 360 °, divided into the twelve signs of the zodiac or sections of 30 ° each. In western astrology the tropical zodiac dominates, in contrast, for example, in the Asian, as in India, the sidereal zodiac. The 360 ​​° sidereal zodiac is based on the ecliptic constellations like Aries , in that the beginning of the sidereal zodiac at around 0 ° Aries always corresponds to the beginning of the ecliptic constellation of the same name.

A distinction between "sidereal astrology" and "tropical astrology" is made by a few western astrologers. This partly against the background of an anthroposophical orientation or a sometimes strongly delimiting use of the sidereal zodiac and fixed stars and other more in a revisionist attitude towards "tropical astrology". There is no scientific basis for this, nor is it anchored in scientific works on the history of astrology and astronomy or serious encyclopedias on astrology.

Terms used

Atlas Coelestis; Constellation Taurus by Johannes Hevelius in the Uranographia, 1690 (the view is reversed)

In astrology and astronomy, some of the same terms are used both between the two fields of knowledge as well as differently within them, partly because no scientifically unambiguous definition is available or possible.

Sidereal zodiac

The predominantly Indian-oriented method uses the sidereal zodiac. As with the tropical zodiac, it divides the measuring circle into twelve sections of 30 °, whereby the ecliptic constellation Aries represents the astronomical reference point, which concerns the beginning of the 360 ​​° zodiac at 0 ° in the zodiac sign Aries . Since the annually recurring positions of the constellations change very slowly due to the precession (by approx. 1 ° in 72 years), the point of the spring equinox moves around March 21 in the tropical zodiac, in contrast to the sidereal zodiac, apparently backwards of the ancient constellations and is currently in the overlapping transition of the constellations Pisces and Aquarius . In addition, in astrology, which works with the sidereal zodiac, fixed stars and fixed star groupings are sometimes taken into account.

Tropical zodiac

Synopsis of sidereal constellations and tropical zodiac (schematic) for the year 2000

The dominant tropical zodiac in Western astrology also consists of the 360 ​​° measuring circle with the twelve signs of the zodiac in 30 ° sections. The tropical zodiac is a complete abstraction, it does not correspond in any way with the ecliptic constellations. In contrast to the sidereal zodiac, whose astronomical reference point is the ecliptic constellations, the beginning of the tropical zodiac at 0 ° in the zodiac sign Aries is determined astronomically by the intersection of the sun's path on the ecliptic at the exact point in time of the spring equinox. It was not until late antiquity, after the 5th century, that the tropical one prevailed over the sidereal zodiac, after astronomers had noticed centuries earlier that the beginning of spring associated with the sidereal zodiac was reached later and later in the course of the year, and therefore due to the precession in the meteorological spring wandered towards summer.

Constellations

Ecliptic constellations, facing east. The constellations on the ecliptic (reddish line across) are of different lengths, partly overlapping, partly with distance.

What is meant here are the ancient ecliptic constellations, which are taken into account astrologically in contrast to the constellations and constellation sizes that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) had determined at the end of the 1920s. They are very different in length, sometimes overlap, sometimes there are 'gaps', for example between the fixed stars of the constellations Taurus and Gemini as well as Cancer . For the traditional constellation Aries , there has been no 'beginning' that can be clearly associated with a certain fixed star, which concerns 0 ° in the constellation Aries. A horoscope calculation or other specific, more demanding astrology is not possible with it. The traditional ecliptic constellations are used in the so-called factual zodiac , which plays a role in anthroposophically oriented authors and astrologers.

Origin of the sidereal zodiac

The sidereal zodiac with its twelve 30 ° sections and the beginning with the zodiac sign Aries could have been created by following the schematic 'ideal calendar' with 12 months to 30 days, with the Babylonian year near the spring equinox from the 7th century BC Began, and was based on the parallel constellations. The complete zodiac with its twelve ecliptic constellations - still of different lengths - was finally created in the 5th century BC. Developed or first handed down during the Achaemenid Empire in the area of ​​Mesopotamia. In the 4th century BC During the Seleucid rule after the Hellenistic conquest of the area, the exact division of the zodiac into 12 "signs" at 30 ° as well as the ancient mathematical astronomy, which made it possible to calculate the planetary positions in advance based on the coordinate system of the 30 ° sections of the individual signs of the zodiac . Both developments made possible another important innovation for astrology and natal chart: the creation of so-called cuneiform 'horoscopes', now also for ordinary people. This means cuneiform tablets which list the planetary positions in the zodiac at birth, occasionally with short sayings about the individual planets or the planetary constellations, the omina. A few times the exact positions of the planets in the zodiac signs are also given. Horoscopes in today's sense gave the tablets a. a. therefore not here, because neither the ascendant nor the horoscope houses are named on them.

Research on the sidereal zodiac

Intensive scientific research into the origins of astrology had already started at the end of the 19th century, especially in Europe.

  • Enuma Anu Enlil

In the library of Assurbanipal in the ruins of Nineveh from the 2nd half of the 7th century BC, copies of the well-known series of clay tablets Enuma Anu Enlil were found, which were probably made at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. It was created and the celestial signs and their interpretation or rather the associated omen texts were shown on more than 70 large panels.

  • Mul.apin

These are three astronomical tables that the astrophysicist Brad Schaefer based on statistical analysis of all observations to 1370 ± 100 BC. Could date to the time of the Old Assyrian Empire. In Table II, Section 8, MUL.APIN lists the 17 or 18 star constellations on the path of the moon , including the twelve names of the later reference constellations that gave their names to the signs of the zodiac centuries later. Of course, the closed sidereal zodiac on the ecliptic was not yet created or developed.

  • Birth constellations in the sidereal zodiac

An example from Babylon or from the Achaemenid Empire of the year 409 BC. - the text of this cuneiform tablet reads:

“ Month of Nissan, night of the 14th (?) ... son of Shuma-usur, son of shum aiddina, descendant of Deke, was born. At that time, the moon was below the "horn" of Scorpio, Jupiter in Pisces, Venus in Taurus, Saturn in Cancer. Mars in Gemini, Mercury, which set, was not visible ... "

Modern recalculations showed that the planetary positions were linked to the sidereal zodiac.

  • Hipparchus

The real father of the tropical zodiac is Hipparchus of Nicaea . In his work Metaptosis - On the Displacement of Tropical and Equinox Points, he had already referred to the tropical zodiac and precession. Hipparchus created his fixed star catalog on the basis of the tropical zodiac. The fixed star catalog of the Liber Hermestis trismegisti is based on these principles.

  • Ptolemy

Both works of Ptolemy , Tetrabiblos and Almagest , were written around 139 AD. For this year we have a deviation of about 0.6 ° from the sidereal and tropical zodiac to the Fagan zodiac, the Ayanamsa. So when Ptolemy wrote his work, there was little difference between the starting points of the two zodiac circles. Ptolemy considered in Tetrabiblos a. a. the fixed stars of the sidereal constellations, those on the ecliptic, and thus in the tropical zodiac signs, as well as those next to the ecliptic, but not for the natal chart interpretation.

In summary it can be said that the majority of the traditional horoscopes of the Roman-Greek antiquity up to the 5th century AD were calculated with the sidereal zodiac. In the 5th century, the astrologers of late antiquity experienced a sudden and unexceptional transition to the tropical zodiac.

Definitions of the sidereal zodiac

With regard to the definition of the sidereal zodiac, different approaches can be found in different sidereal schools. Here are the main ones:

30 ° zodiac segments

Cyril Fagan's zodiac

The western sidereal zodiac was founded by Cyril Fagan and Donald Bradley in the late 1940s. In terms of the research approach, both archaeological and statistical methods were incorporated into the research. Fagan had initially assumed that he could take Spica as 30 ° Virgo as a fiducial star from the Indian system.

Fagan oriented the zodiac to four main stars: In addition to the Spica known from the Indian system, three other stars or groups of stars come into consideration: Aldebaran, Antares and Regulus. They are the fiducial stars that the zodiac is based on.

“The Babylonians and the Egyptians measured (their zodiac) on the Pleiades in 5 ° Taurus, Aldebaran in 15 ° Taurus, Regulus in 5 ° Leo and Spica in 29 ° Virgo. Such orientation stars are known as fiducial stars ("fiducials") "

- Cyril Fagan

In 1956, Bradley refined this information through statistical research with lunar entries into sidereal constellations. This resulted in a necessary shift of 0 ° 06 ′. Spica came to be at 29 ° 06 ′ for 1950. The so-called Synetic Vernal Point, the sidereal spring equinox, was thus at 5 ° 07 ′ 28 ″ fish. According to Cyril Fagan, 0 ° sidereal Aries was 0 ° tropical Aries in AD 221. The sidereal Fagan-Bradley zodiac for 1950 is at an ayanamsa of 24 ° 02 ′, which results in a deviation of 0 ° 53 ′ from the Indian zodiac. This western Fagan / Bradley zodiac is the result of our own research; it is based on archaeological and statistical findings.

Jyotic

The Indian zodiac should be mentioned as a representative of the first group. Indian astrology, Jyotic , has adopted the main elements of astrology from the Babylonian-Egyptian culture and is based on the sidereal zodiac. Spica, the ear, was placed at 30 ° Virgo or at 0 ° scales as a point of reference. In addition, there are still different schools in today's Indian astrology: each shows a slight differentiation in the definition of the ayanamsa. The most common show the following ayanamsa dates for January 1, 1950:

  1. Lahiri: 23 ° 9 ′ 34 ″
  2. Krishnamurti: 23 ° 3 ′ 58 ″.

The two great Indian teachers represent an ayanamsa that is almost identical. Only newer Indian astrologers show larger deviations:

  1. Raman: 21 ° 42 ′ 23 ″

Zodiac with the individual constellation sizes

A second system, the so-called factual zodiac, works with the very different lengths of the individual constellations along the ecliptic, for example the constellation Virgo with an approximate ecliptical length of 44 ° or Libra with 23 °. The IAU definitions build on this. The 'anthroposophical' zodiac also follows this path and proceeds phenomenologically.

Ecliptic constellations of the IAU

In 1928 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) precisely defined the boundaries of the sidereal constellations. The astronomical dates of the passage of the sun through the 13 sidereal constellations on the ecliptic (approximate values, fluctuating due to the length of a sidereal year):

  • Sagittarius: December 18 - January 20
  • Capricorn: January 20 - February 16
  • Aquarius: February 16 - March 12
  • Pisces: March 12th - April 19th
  • Aries: April 19th - May 14th
  • Taurus: May 14th - June 21st
  • Twins: June 21st - July 21st
  • Cancer: July 21 - August 10
  • Leo: August 10th - September 16th
  • Virgo: September 16 - October 31
  • Libra: October 31st - November 23rd
  • Scorpio: November 23rd - November 30th
  • Snake Bearer : November 30th - December 18th

If you look at the list of constellations of the IAU, you will find the whole globe represented. For most schools of sidereal astrology, the twelve classic sidereal constellations along the ecliptic are essentially important. The constellation Serpent Bearer was ignored in the ancient canonization of the ecliptical constellations as it is today, perhaps to enable the twelve-division, which is more attractive in many respects.

further reading

  • Cyril Fagan: Astrological origins. Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN 1971.
  • Denis Labouré: Initiation à l'astrologie sidérale. Guy Trédaniel, Pardès 1986.
  • Bernd Zabka: Sidereal Astrology. Sidereal constellations, solar zodiac signs. Publishing house Monsenstein and Vannerdat , 2002, ISBN 3-935363-78-8 .
  • Fred Gettings: The Secret Zodiac: The Hidden Art in Mediaeval Astrology. Penguin, 1990, ISBN 0-14-019215-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Hamel : Concepts of Astrology. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2010, p. 84.
    Nineteen astrologies alone are cited for the keyword     astrology , for example galactic and geographical , Indian and natural astrology, but no “sidereal” or “tropical” astrology.
  2. ↑ Ulrike Voltmer, specialist symposium on the topic: Astrology and astronomy - an unclear relationship , in: Astrolog. Journal of Psychological Astrology , Issue 211, Volume 2016, pp. 22-25, p. 23, box on the right. Astrolog magazine , issue 211, pp. 22-25 , accessed on May 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Hamel: Concepts of Astrology . Scientific publisher Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2010. S. 579., keyword zodiac, siderischer . S. 580., keyword zodiac, tropical . P. 543f., Keyword constellation .
  4. ↑ Jürgen Hamel: Concepts of Astrology . Scientific publisher Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2010. S. 579., keyword zodiac, siderischer .
  5. ↑ Jürgen Hamel: Concepts of Astrology . Scientific publisher Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2010. S. 580., keyword zodiac, tropical .
  6. ^ On November 9, 1989, 6:57 pm, Berlin.
  7. ^ John P. Britton, Studies in Babylonian lunar theory: part III. The introduction of the uniform zodiac , in: Archive for History of Exact Sciences , Vol. 64, No. 6, November 2010, pp. 617-663. P. 630.
  8. ^ Francesca Rochberg : Heavenly Writing . Cambridge University Press, New York, 2004. pp. 129f.
  9. ↑ James Herschel Holden: A History of Horoscopic Astrology. American Federation of Astrologers, Tempe (USA) 2006. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Mathieu Ossendrijver: Astronomy and Astrology in Babylonia , in: Joachim Marzahn , Beatrice André-Salvini, Jonathan Taylor, Babylon - Myth and Truth: Catalog for the exhibition in the National Museums in Berlin, Pergamon Museum, June 26, 2008 to October 5, 2008 . Hirmer Verlag, Munich 2008. p. 380.
  11. ^ Francesca Rochberg : Babylonian Horoscopes . American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia 1998. p. 45, p. 51 ff.
  12. ↑ Stephan Heilen : 'Hadriani genitura' - The astrological fragments of Antigonus of Nikaia . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2015. p. 207.
  13. ↑ Stefan M. Maul : The art of fortune telling in the ancient Orient . C. H. Beck, Munich 2013. pp. 261 f.
  14. ^ Francesca Rochberg : Babylonian Horoscopes . American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia 1998. p. 45, p. 56 ff.
  15. ↑ See: Neugebauer, op. Cit
  16. ↑ Stephan Heilen: 'Hadriani genitura' - the astrological fragments of Antigonus of Nikaia. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2015. p. 596.
  17. ^ Neil F. Michelsen, The American Sidereal Ephemeris, "A brief look at the sidereal zodiac", Astro Computing Services, San Diego, California, 1981 ("A brief look at the sidereal zodiac")
  18. ↑ Cyril Fagan: Primer of Sidereal Astrology, p. 12.
  19. ↑ Jürgen Hamel: Concepts of Astrology . Scientific publishing house Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2010. S. 509f., Keyword snake bearer .